Free Web NovelChapter 263: Chapter 262: Slaying Kin, Forbearing and Resolute
「Inside the arena.」
Su Ye looked at the King of Aino and continued.
"As for you, you must die."
’I have no intention of keeping the former king around. He’d just get in the way.’
"However, as a concession... I can promise that whoever kills you will secure a place among Aino’s future leadership."
Su Ye’s smile was mocking, revealing a flood of malice.
"What do you say?"
"You can choose who to grant this position to."
"This..."
Hearing Su Ye’s words, the King of Aino’s face turned deathly pale as despair flooded his heart.
’It was a death sentence!’
Even a man of his stature would struggle to maintain his composure...
But.
A dozen or so breaths later,
the mental fortitude he had honed over many years of ruling the city-state finally allowed him to regain a semblance of calm.
He exhaled. "Thank you, Your Highness, the Divine Son..."
He forced his injured body upright and bowed to Su Ye upon the throne, thanking him for his mercy. fгee𝑤ebɳoveɭ.cøm
’Yes, mercy.’
By the standards of the Far South Continent, Su Ye’s actions were indeed merciful.
After all,
the Far South Continent was a theocracy.
The ruler of every city-state was both a monarch and a Divine Descendant.
To establish orthodox belief and simultaneously eliminate any potential threats,
the replacement of a city-state’s ruler was typically an unimaginably bloody and cruel affair.
For example, the most common method was to take every member of the previous royal family, from the most ancient elders down to the newborn infants...
and... slaughter every last one of them!
Their lives and souls would be used in a blood sacrifice to honor the new god and intimidate any who might defy them.
At most, they might spare a few distant relatives from branch families—those whose bloodlines were so diluted and divinity so faint it was barely perceptible, the kind that would vanish within a generation...
Su Ye was allowing the Fertile Divine Descendants to survive.
He was even giving them a chance to retain some measure of power.
This was, without a doubt, an act of mercy.
And yet...
’Even this rare "mercy" is still steeped in cruelty.’
The King of Aino took a deep breath.
Then, his gaze swept over the members of the royal family.
He was choosing who would be the one to kill him.
According to Su Ye’s promise, the one who killed him would secure a place among Aino’s new leadership.
In effect, this promise was equivalent to allowing the King of Aino to choose one member of the royal family to inherit some power.
After all, despite being gravely injured and weak, he was still a "Third Tier."
Any of the non-royal Second Tiers in the arena who dared to challenge him, trying to pluck a whisker from the tiger’s jaw, would surely die a miserable death.
’Still, if a non-royal Second Tier actually manages it...’
’I’ll still honor my promise...’ Su Ye thought, twirling a strand of his hair.
Su Ye didn’t like breaking promises.
’More importantly... this is fun. It’s great entertainment!’
"Heh..." Su Ye chuckled, a playful look in his eyes.
He leaned back on the throne, a cup of hot cocoa materializing in his hand as he calmly waited for the show to begin.
...
「Inside the arena.」
The King of Aino’s gaze swept across the area.
Every member of the royal family his eyes passed over felt a jolt and bowed their heads.
Their minds were a tangled mess of conflicting emotions.
After all, Su Ye hadn’t used his Divine Sense to make his promise to the King. They, the members of the royal family, had heard every word.
To be chosen by the King of Aino and kill him with their own hands would not only spare them from the fighting and guarantee their survival, but would also allow them to... inherit a portion of his power!
The lust for life, the craving for power.
It made them hope that the King of Aino would choose them.
And yet, the act of killing their own kin—a sin as deep and unforgivable as the abyss—plunged them into anguish, making them pray they would not be the one selected.
’A wonderful feeling...’
Su Ye, high upon his throne, swirled his cup of hot cocoa.
With his Divine Sense, he felt the emotional fluctuations of everyone present.
A tangled web of complex emotions.
Savoring the sensation, a look of delighted satisfaction appeared in his eyes.
Soon, the King of Aino made his choice.
"An Jie, come."
His choice was a valiant-looking young woman with short, shoulder-length hair. She wore a feathered ornament, and her overall bearing was much like the legendary Mayan Female War Priestesses.
One could see faint calluses on her fingers.
—The result of her archery practice.
Considering An Jie’s age and the restorative effect of divinity on the physical body, the intensity of the training required to leave such marks must have been astonishing.
An Jie’s divinity concentration ranked second among the current members of the royal family. With time and continued training, she was on the verge of reaching the Second Tier.
This was why the King of Aino had chosen her.
As for why he didn’t choose the one ranked first?
Well, the royal family member with the highest divinity concentration was none other than Prince Green, who had just tried to flee.
He was now spread evenly across the ground, like jam on a piece of toast...
The King of Aino handed a dagger to An Jie.
"Father, I can’t..."
An Jie clutched the dagger, her face filled with anguish.
The hand that could hold a fully drawn bow for over ten minutes without the slightest tremor now began to shake.
The sin of killing her own father was more than she could bear.
Just then, a pair of gentle hands took the dagger from her grasp.
"Let me do it."
SHK!
The dagger plunged into the King of Aino’s undefended heart.
"Mother?!"
An Jie’s eyes flew wide in utter shock.
The one who had taken the dagger and killed the King of Aino was none other than Queen Genvieve!
"May you rest in peace..."
"An Jie has a bright future. I cannot let her bear the sin of kin-slaying, of patricide..."
"I will be the one to bear this sin."
Genvieve’s expression was full of sorrow.
Hearing her words, the King of Aino nodded in acceptance and gave up all resistance.
SQUELCH.
The dagger was pulled free.
Fresh blood splattered onto Genvieve’s face and dress.
The light quickly faded from the King of Aino’s eyes as he was gently laid on the ground. He had already been gravely wounded by Su Ye; the damage to his heart was instantly fatal.
HUMMM.
A turbid, yellowish-green wisp of divinity, tinged with the light of blood, flew from his body and began to dissipate.
With a surge of his Magical Power, Su Ye pulled it toward him.
[Fertility Divinity (Contaminated)]
[Compatibility: 32 (Low)]
[1. Purify]
[2. Break Down]
He chose to break it down.
Su Ye’s Creation Points reached 46.
He closed the panel.
Then, Su Ye turned to Genvieve, his expression shifting as he admired her inwardly.
’A very decisive choice...’
His promise had been a poisoned sweet.
Killing a blood relative would indeed allow them to retain some power, but it would also leave an indelible stain on their name.
If An Jie had done it,
her ability to rally the Fertile Divine Descendants would have been severely compromised.
The royal family’s unity would have been shattered, and they might have fractured, ceasing to be a threat altogether.
But...
Genvieve had prevented that!
She had protected the most promising member of the royal family’s next generation.
A playful look glinted in Su Ye’s eyes.
Calm, intelligent, decisive, and forbearing.
In their brief, ten-minute encounter, the Queen of Aino had left a deep impression on him.
’An interesting woman...’
